James Morgan displays the tracking unit that he wears. Lukas Keapproth/For the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Written by

Mario Koran
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

In the 1960s, while studying under the famed behaviorist B.F. Skinner at Harvard University, Robert Gable and his brother designed the first electronic monitoring system. They hoped it would be used as a support system.

"It was supposed to be a pro-social tool," Gable said in an interview, "a way for offenders and agencies to remain in contact and offer positive support."

But with the development of newer forms of the technology, particularly Global Positioning System tracking, Gable has become uneasy. Tracking technology, he wrote in a 2009 report, has instead been used "almost ...